


The Name

by mxjessiebee



Category: Gundam Wing
Genre: Family, Fluff, Gen, cominng out, lgbtq+, sorry no actual shipping!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-05
Updated: 2020-07-05
Packaged: 2021-03-05 05:14:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,326
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25078954
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mxjessiebee/pseuds/mxjessiebee
Summary: Sometimes a new name makes all the difference...
Comments: 3
Kudos: 6





	The Name

**Author's Note:**

> Though not directly named the father IS Heero and the mother IS Relena. Their kid is a character in another larger fic of mine and I always thought it would be cute to do a sweet little story where she encounters him for the first time after starting her big change. Anyhow, enjoy my fluffy trash.

Her father was sometimes difficult to read, especially at pivotal moments.

Listening in quietly on the video call a week prior the girl had listened to her mother explain the situation to her father: Your son is now your daughter.

Secretly peeking through the crack in the door she never saw his face change (not even a minor muscle twitch) and his voice didn’t pitch any differently when he replied “oh, okay” and acted like he was just told they’d be having asparagus for dinner. In one way she was relieved, but on the other hand she was absolutely terrified by his lack of emotion.

Her father had never once been violent with her so she wasn’t afraid of that type of backlash but their difficulty communicating at times concerned her, especially in this case. Mother liked to joke that it was because father was raised by aliens but the girl knew the truth: That he never got to enjoy a proper childhood because he’d been trained to fight in some stupid war. So he’d missed out on regular childhood interactions and had already spent a good chunk of his adult life trying to decipher other people. Not that he was completely lost, but sometimes jokes went over his head and normal everyday rituals could confused him.

Growing up she’d asking him for a hug and he wouldn’t say anything but would appear baffled for a moment before stooping down to scoop her in his arms. Coming home from school with an art project she’d give them to him as gifts and he’d just nod at them with a quiet ‘thank you’ but later would be found with them taped up on the wall in his home office. He showed his love in small ways and not big, sweeping gestures.

‘Forbidden’ candy hidden in her lunch bag.

A book arriving to the house from him while he was away on business ‘just because’.

A brand new teddy bear next to head in bed when she awoke because he thought she’d like it.

Well, that was all when she was he. The son. Would that end now that she was trying to grow her hair out and was wearing dresses instead of slacks?

Terrified and feeling like she might throw up the girl couldn’t even wait in the porch for him to arrive home and left her concerned mother standing there as she went to splash her face with cold water. That seemed to just make her more upset and she just broke out in tears and crumpled on the bathroom floor sobbing into her hands. She had no idea how long she was there but eventually there was a knock on the door.

The girl sniffled thinking it was her mother. “I’m fine! I’ll be out soon!” Her voice cracked.

“...are you sure?”

The girl froze: It was her father.

She couldn’t move or speak.

After a few agonizingly silent minutes an envelope slid under the door. The paper was pale pink and said ‘happy birthday’ in sloppy cursive (his penmanship was not great). Hesitantly she reached for it, noticing that it smelled like the cruddy old jean jacket he always wore meaning it must have been tucked away in his pocket. Coffee. Cigarettes. Cologne. On their own not pleasant but together something that was uniquely him and oddly sweet.

She could hear him outside the door breathing and the tapping noise was probably him running his fingers along a door frame while he waited. He had more patience than anyone she knew so he wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

With a lump growing in her throat she tried her best to swallow and slowly started tearing the paper. Her 10th birthday was a month prior and he’d sent her a fancy camera that she absolutely loved so what this card was for…she had no idea.

A plain, white textured card that looked like someone had painted pink roses on the outside. Unfolding it there was more of her father’s messy writing inside but she could read it just fine. Her heart beat so loudly in her ears it drowned out everything else:

_“Your mother told me you’ve been having a hard time picking out a new name. I don’t know quite what you’re looking for, but if you’ll accept this gift I’d like to give you one: Miu.”_

She sat there in silence reading the words over and over again, more tears streaming down her face. A mixture of relief and joy even if it didn’t look like it. Eventually she found the tissues on the counter and wiped her face off to the best of her ability but there was no hiding the crying. Still gripping the card in one hand she slowly opened the door to find her father sitting on the carpet just where she thought he’d be. All she did was nod and he smiled warmly.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Sitting at a picnic table and sharing a giant strawberry sundae under a tree, Miu’s father kept insisting that ice cream was the perfect remedy for tears. He kept saying: “Listen, Miu. Ice cream definitely makes everything feel better.” Completely unnecessary to keep repeating, but it was nice to hear her shiny new name be spoken out loud and she couldn’t help but grin from ear to ear between mouthfuls of the cold stuff.

Her father paused for a moment, looking at her like he was seeing her for the first time. “Hey, I love you. Okay? This changes nothing.”

Miu licked some red syrup off her hand before he handed her a napkin. “You’re not mad I guess.”

Elbow on the table he rested is face in his non-eating hand and sighed. “Maybe a little mad at myself. I had a feeling you weren’t happy and I should have asked. And look, your mom and I already spoke about everything. If this is what’s going to make you truly happy we’re with you 100%.”

“...so I can grow my hair?” Miu’s eyes flicked up to him expectantly as she curled some of her messy dark brown hair around a baby finger.

With a chuckle her father leaned in and pointed his empty spoon at her. “Listen, if your uncle can have hair past his butt then you can have all the hair you want. But yes, whatever you want. All the dresses and pretty shoes, whatever. And when you feel ready we can start looking for doctors, if you want to take those kinds of steps.”

“...okay.” Miu was starting to feel like a severed connected had been repaired. Not that she ever felt a lack of love from her father, but now that she was able to tell him the truth she was starting to realize that her inability to read him may have been something on her end because she’d been living so closed off.

“Do you really like that name though?”

Miu snapped back to reality. “Hmm? Yes. It’s pretty.”

Her father smiled. A real, genuine smile. “Just like you.”

She felt her cheeks go pinker than the ice cream. “You think I’m pretty?”

“I bet one day you’ll be a beautiful lady…” Picking up a glob of ice cream with his finger he reached across quickly and playfully smeared it on Miu’s nose. “Just like your mom!”

Sticking her tongue out she grabbed a napkin and furiously wiped it off. “Ahhh! My nose is cold now!”

“Well, just make sure it’s not wet too because that would mean you’ve turned into a dog.”

Miu perked up excitedly. “Dog? Can I get dog?”

“...finish your ice cream, young lady.” Her father winked and returned to his half of the sundae.

When she heard the words ‘young lady’ Miu couldn’t help but smile again. Kicking her legs gleefully under the table she happily got back to finishing her treat, glad that for the first time in her life everything felt perfect.

**Author's Note:**

> Protect trans kids, you cowards. Heero and Relena would!


End file.
